Imre Thököly

Timeline

1. 1670–1679Transylvania · TransylvaniaBorn 25 September 1657 in Késmárk, Upper Hungary (today Kežmarok, Slovakia), to a wealthy Protestant family. In 1670 his father was executed for participating in an anti-Habsburg noble conspiracy, and the family estates were confiscated; the young Thököly fled to Transylvania, taking refuge at the court of Mihály Apafi and among Magyar exiles, preparing armed resistance to Leopold I's religious and constitutional repression.
2. 1680–1685Košice · Upper HungaryIn 1680 he was acclaimed commander of the malcontents (Kurucs); with Transylvanian and Ottoman support he seized the mining towns of Upper Hungary. In June 1682 he married Ilona Zrínyi, widow of Rákóczi I; that same year the sultan recognized him as Prince of Upper Hungary, exchanging annual tribute for vassal status. In 1683 he assisted Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa in the siege of Vienna; after the allied counteroffensive his lands faltered, and in 1685 he was defeated at Eperjes (Prešov), his principality collapsing, and he was briefly detained by the Ottomans.
3. 1685–1700Edirne · Ottoman EmpireHaving lost Upper Hungary, Thököly refused to surrender unconditionally to Leopold and sought in vain the mediation of John III Sobieski. In 1690 the Ottomans briefly made him Prince of Transylvania, but he could not establish himself. Thereafter he resided in Ottoman territory, and in 1697 even led Turkish cavalry at the Battle of Zenta. As late as 1700 he had not reconciled with the Habsburgs, and spent his remaining years in Ottoman Anatolia.